The Clean Files

Biodegradation - How does it apply to cleaning products?

Biodegradation continues to be an important aspect of the environmental safety assessment process for consumer products, particularly cleaning products. This process, undertaken during product development, entails a systematic evaluation of information on ecological effects and environmental concentrations for each ingredient in order to reach a conclusion about the safety of the ingredient in the finished product. Biodegradation plays a key role in these evaluations because it can significantly lower the environmental concentration of an ingredient. Biodegradation information can also help manufacturers meet consumer demands for more environment-related information on product labels. In addition, there are government regulations in the U.S. and other areas of the world rely, at least in part, on biodegradation information.

- Source: Happi Magazine/May 1993